The Chancellor’s backing for Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA) will be widely welcomed by those who have long championed it. Rachel Reeves promised to work with local leaders to ensure that it not only reopens but realises its potential.

The Chancellor also promised to systematically remove barriers to growth as she set out Government support for the expansion of Heathrow.

The litmus test will be which projects progress and at what rate. The overwhelming feeling is that it is too often jam tomorrow for the North.

The Chancellor may have thrown her backing behind DSA but these are just words. Words will mean nothing unless the Government really puts its shoulder to the wheel and helps find funds in order to “recreate South Yorkshire airport city”, as Rachel Reeves claims to want to.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves giving a speech on economic growth. PIC: Peter Cziborra/PA Wire

placeholder image — Chancellor Rachel Reeves giving a speech on economic growth. PIC: Peter Cziborra/PA Wire

If the third runway at Heathrow is built and DSA is left to wither, then there is enough evidence to suggest that it will be by design.

There are so many upsides to DSA that everything possible should be done to ensure its potential is realised.

This is also a huge political opportunity for the Labour Government. DSA had become a monument to the failure to level up. A failure very much under previous Tory governments. The airport could become a bellwether of differentiation for Labour.

On her first full day as Prime Minister, Liz Truss pledged “to make sure that we do protect this airport and we protect that vital infrastructure and connectivity that helps our economy grow”.

Those words still ring in the ears of those who believe in the airport and its potential. And for Reeves and this Government it is an opportunity to stand apart from hollow words.

However, with public money at stake, the business case needs to be robust.